The latest Lunch Talk from the European Association for Biometrics (EAB) focuses on the threat of deepfakes and what can be done to reliably detect their misuse. BioID has a solution, and the German biometrics firm’s VP for Business Development Ann-Kathrin Freiberg explains how it came to be, and why deepfake detection is an essential tool to fight political disinformation, identity theft, romance scams and video call CEO fraud.

BioID is a “research-focused company,” Freiberg says – so it knows well the extent of what can be done with deepfake technology. While pornography remains the driving force for deepfakes, political interference is a looming threat, as adversarial nations aim to meddle in the elections of their rivals.

“U.S. elections have strongly been influenced by other nations,” Freiberg says. She notes how far fake media can spread in a short time. “The issue is, even if you can find out later that the material is not genuine, the damage has already been done.”

Technological development, she says, is outpacing media literacy. Adults tend to believe they know what’s what, but new AI tools for deception have made a heightened level of awareness necessary to avoid being tricked into sharing disinformation. The result is an increased risk of identity theft, reputational damage and financial losses – but also, on a societal level, a threat to public security and free speech.